Sketch Book and Working Out Ideas

This is one of several watercolor notebooks I made myself. It's the only way I have found to have a watercolor notebook in various sizes with exactly the type of paper I want and be relatively inexpensive. 

It does take time to bind, but it is worth it! When I began thinking about making my own, I researched online and found this tutorial teaching the coptic stitch for single sheet bookbinding (look up DIY Single Sheet Bookbinding Tutorial by Sea Lemon).  

The book lies flat and can be completed fairly quickly, any size you want or need. 

This notebook is 10 1/2"  x 11 3/4" (paper size is 10" x 10 1/2") and holds 14 sheets of Arches Cold Pressed watercolor paper. I painted a scrap piece of cardboard black then glued a copy of a photo I took of dense birches near my home to the cover, inside front and back covers, and the back using mod podge matte glue.

These notebooks are great for working out ideas for my larger paintings. The third picture is a watercolor of stones - I'm trying out brighter colors and techniques such as using salt to help define moving water. Here's a few more:

I've discovered that I don't even have to bind them as long as they have sturdy covers and I keep a thick elastic holding the book together. This is especially convenient when out doors; the book cover acts as a drawing board and you can put your sketches in any order you like.

The last picture is a quick watercolor sketch I did looking at a pile of branches, sticks and leaves. This is just about shape and color and placement. I didn't worry - as you can see - about making the image look exactly like branches sticks and leaves. I thought about shape, color, tone, shadows, what shapes were in the front and which were receding and where to place those shapes and colors. I need to do many more of these.

These small paintings are so visually interesting or at least I think they have the potential to be very visually exciting. I'd like to practice some more, really exploiting the transparency of the watercolor in a larger image.

Thanks for looking and until next time!